Chapter 46

An Xiang had originally wanted to leave the hospital the next day, but Pei Yizhou insisted she stay another day under the pretext of "observation."

She could not outstubborn him, so she could only lie there like a salted fish.

A night of rest had calmed her down considerably. Thinking back on yesterday's impulsiveness, she could not help feeling a little guilty.

She carefully lifted her eyes and found that the man still showed no sign of leaving. A slim laptop rested on his knees. He occasionally took a few calls, but most of the time, he was using the computer to deal with the work that had piled up overnight.

"Mr. Pei, if you're busy, you should go back first."

Pei Yizhou had stayed with her all night. An Xiang did not know whether he had slept; she only remembered waking up to find him already sitting on the sofa. His cool, pale skin made the dark circles beneath his eyes especially obvious. There was no need to guess that he had not rested well.

Pei Yizhou's fingers paused. With a click, he closed his laptop, rose, and came to An Xiang's side. He sat down leisurely, then said with a straight face, "I'm not busy. If you're bored, you can talk to me."

An Xiang fell silent for several seconds before muttering slowly, "...I wasn't hinting at anything."

He gave a quiet hum, but did not leave.

An Xiang lowered her eyes to look at her bandaged ankle, then lightly touched her back. The medicine had worked, easing the pain in just one night. But when she thought of An Zimo, her heart sank again.

"Momo... Momo should live with you instead, if... if you don't mind." What she had said yesterday had not been thoughtless impulse. An Xiang wanted to get along well with her child. She wanted to be a qualified, responsible Good Mommy. But no matter what she did, Momo seemed to hate her and be tired of her.

She did not want to force the child to live with her. If he ran away today, she could find him. But if he ran away again tomorrow, where would she look?

An Xiang did not want either of them to have a hard time, nor did she want An Zimo to be in danger again. If being with her made him want to escape, then it would be better to let him leave willingly, to go somewhere better.

Pei Yizhou was reliable and responsible. Surely An Zimo would be much happier with him.

Besides... Momo had not objected yesterday either.

Every emotion was written across An Xiang's face. Pei Yizhou watched her calmly, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

After a while, he finally said, "I can take Momo away, but are you really willing?"

An Xiang slowly raised her lashes.

"Putting aside whether you truly mean what you're saying now, suppose I really take him away. Once your wounds heal and you calm down, if you want to take the child back from me again, what do you think the child will feel? What will I feel?"

Pei Yizhou's question plunged her into silence.

An Xiang pressed her lips together, her fingers twisting tightly around each other.

"I understand how you feel, but you can't casually suggest sending your child away. Zimo isn't a ball to be kicked back and forth. What about how he feels?"

Pei Yizhou's words sobered An Xiang up quite a bit.

She knew her own personality. If she truly sent her son away, there was a high chance she would regret it. But... she also did not know how to keep getting along with that child.

An Xiang felt that the identity of being a mother was far too heavy. Those two short words pressed down on her until she could barely breathe.

Pei Yizhou got up and moved to sit beside the bed. His warm palm stroked her satin-like hair again and again, his deep voice as pleasing as music. "Right now, we need to figure something out: why did Zimo run away from home, and why does he treat you like this?"

An Xiang lowered her head and said in a muffled voice, "He wants to leave me."

Pei Yizhou smiled faintly. "If he wanted to leave you, then why did he come back?"

That was... true.

An Xiang's eyes widened as she looked at Pei Yizhou, a tiny hope blooming in her heart again. "He... he doesn't want to leave me?"

That expression left Pei Yizhou speechless. After pondering for a moment, he helplessly said three words: "Silly girl."

An Xiang scratched her head awkwardly. "I'm not very smart..."

"."

"When you get home, try testing Zimo's attitude first."

An Xiang did not understand. Tilting her head, she asked, "How do I test him?"

"Don't pay attention to him. See whether he comes to coax you, or whether he gets angry and leaves directly." Seeing An Xiang's expression suddenly fall, Pei Yizhou added, "The former means he still cares about you; the latter also means he cares about you."

When one person coaxed another, it meant feelings had developed between them, especially between mother and son. If he could get angry, that would show it even more clearly. What Pei Yizhou worried about was whether the child with an utterly evil soul lacked even the most basic human emotions.

"Tomorrow happens to be a day off. Once you leave the hospital and return home, remember not to do anything."

An Xiang nodded thoughtfully, though she felt extremely uneasy inside.

**

The next day, An Xiang officially left the hospital.

The house looked much the same as when she had left. She limped through the door, and the living room was empty. An Xiang stood still in the entryway, peeking around furtively.

Click.

An Xiang's spine stiffened. Slowly turning her head, she met An Zimo's gaze from where he stood in front of the bedroom door.

The two stared at each other from a distance for a long time. Finally, An Zimo kept a cold face and was the first to leave, heading into the bathroom.

Only after she watched her son's back disappear behind the door did she slowly limp over to the sofa.

A while later, An Zimo came out of the bathroom and returned to his room.

The morning passed quickly. Neither mother nor son paid any attention to the other, and the whole house was as silent and still as if no one lived there.

In the blink of an eye, it was noon. An Zimo came out again, this time preparing to go next door.

"Pei Chen and the others aren't home."

An Zimo's hand froze on the doorknob. Expressionless, he walked over to An Xiang and stopped in front of her.

She copied his stiff expression and asked coldly, "What?"

"I'm hungry."

"What does you being hungry have to do with me?"

He pressed his lips together. "Aren't you eating?"

An Xiang said, "No."

An Zimo said, "If you're not eating, I want to eat."

An Xiang crossed her arms and leaned against the sofa, letting out a hard snort. "I'm not your Mommy. If you want to eat, go find your Mommy to cook for you." After saying that, An Xiang secretly observed her son's expression from the corner of her eye.

He remained in the same stance as before, his face still blank as though it had been glued in place.

An Zimo blinked lightly. "Fine."

An Xiang raised her brows, then heard him say, "Miss An, I am the child of this house's owner. Sorry for the trouble, but please leave."

"...?"

"...??"

An Xiang was nearly dumb with anger. She pinched her thigh hard with her fingers before barely managing to calm down.

Breathe.

Take a deep breath.

An Xiang closed her eyes and adjusted her emotions. Turning her head away, she snapped back, "More accurately, this is Mr. Pei's house. I'm his friend, so I have the right to come in."

"Oh." An Zimo's eyes were calm. "I'm Mr. Pei's biological son. I have the right to make you leave."

"You..." An Xiang rose from the sofa. But when she met that puppet-like face, all the anger in her stomach turned into helplessness and grievance.

Her eyes reddened again. Gritting her teeth, she cursed him, "An Zimo, you're not human!"

"I never was." An Zimo felt that was not imposing enough after saying it, so he lifted his head and bared the two new teeth that had just grown in at An Xiang.

The new teeth had grown much longer. In another couple of days, he would be able to bite people.

Those two sharp little teeth, paired with An Zimo's bared grin, were oddly vivid and adorable.

An Xiang felt as if a bucket of water had been poured over her head. Not only was her anger gone, even her resentment had vanished.

After finishing his demonstration, An Zimo puffed out his chest, raised his head, and returned to his room.

She sat on the sofa for a few more minutes. Not caring about what Pei Yizhou had said yesterday, she dragged her limping leg into the kitchen, swaying as she walked.

There were still a few eggs and a handful of greens in the refrigerator. Since they had been sitting there for several days, they were no longer very fresh. She tied on an apron, cracked the eggs first, then chopped the vegetables. She turned on the stove, poured in oil, and tipped in the egg mixture, stir-frying it with practiced ease.

An Zimo had been hiding behind the kitchen door, secretly watching her. He still felt no emotions in his heart, but his stomach certainly did. Drawn by the aroma of the stir-fry, it rumbled nonstop.

Standing for so long made An Xiang's injured ankle extremely uncomfortable.

She endured the discomfort and plated the food, setting it on the dining table. Without paying attention to An Zimo's expression, she weakly made her way back to bed to rest and sent Pei Yizhou a message.

[Pei Yizhou: How did it go? Did you do what I said?]

[An Xiang: I did!]

[Pei Yizhou: Did he come looking for you?]

[An Xiang: He did! I even made him a meal!]

[Pei Yizhou: .]

That period annoyed An Xiang. In her eyes, periods were practically curse words, so she immediately replied: [Speak properly. Don't be sarcastic~]

[Pei Yizhou: ...Silly.]

[An Xiang: I'm not talking to you anymore.]

When An Xiang said she would not talk to someone, she truly would not.

Pei Yizhou was helpless. His goal had been to make the child soften first, not have the mother soften first. That child's personality had never been pure to begin with. If the parent did not stand firm at least once, he would only push his luck more and more. But now that things had come to this, there was nothing more to say.

He let out a tired sigh and continued typing: [I'll come over tonight and talk to An Zimo alone.]

There were also some things he wanted to show him.

Pei Yizhou gripped his phone and slightly lifted his eyes toward the computer screen.

A surveillance video was playing on it—the footage of An Xiang being attacked the night before last...

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※

An Zimo: Even though I don't have emotions, my stomach does.

An Xiang: QAQ I... I can't be a devil Mommy.

**

Xiangxiang is just soft-hearted! He's her biological son, after all. Even after scolding him, she still has to raise him, so don't scold her!! When you were little, even after your Mommy hit you, she still had to give you money to buy Wahaha and cook for you.

If you're unhappy, think of it this way: Xiangxiang has got her son by the stomach now. Once she dies, nothing he eats will taste good anymore. There will never again be the taste of his mother's cooking. He'll wash his face in tears every day, crying and whining, miserable and pitiful. Doesn't that feel satisfying!!

Two hundred red envelopes.